Grandparent's Day: Celebrating bond between generations

Sep. 13, 2011

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Preschoolers at Bishop Schad Regional School celebrated Grandparent's Day on Monday morning. Brooklyn Lopez, 3, rests on the lap of her grandparent, Steve Levari. See more pictures at www.thedailyjournal.com/photos. / Staff photos/Craig Matthews

Left: Nicholas Cervini,4, gives a kiss goodbye for a Tic Tac to his great-grandmother Millie Beu.

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VINELAND -- During a lesson in family, Bishop Schad Regional School preschoolers used glue sticks to affix their relative's names, printed on red construction paper apples, to hand-print family trees.

They got their genealogy information from huggable sources.

Teacher Elisabeth Simon invited grandparents to school Monday to mark Grandparent's Day, which was officially observed on Sunday. It was a milk-and-cookies celebration of the bond between the generations.

All seven students had grandparents living close by who were able to attend the party. It was easy to match up little ones with their elder relatives through mirrored facial features or common interests.

A few of the students' family trees have roots in the school's classrooms.

Sharon Ruberti remembered back to when her daughter, Christina, was attending the school, then called Sacred Heart Grammar School. The mom told Christina her fifth-grade classmate, Brian Stanker, would make her a wonderful husband one day.

The grammar school students eventually left Sacred Heart to go their separate ways until fate brought them back together for a walk down the aisle. The couple's vows bonded Sharon Ruberti and Dennis Stanker as in-laws and now grandparents to Ben, who shares his grandfather's love of photography.

Nicholas Cervini enjoyed the company of three grandparents spanning two generations.

But he only had eyes for "Popeye," his moniker for his grandfather, Tim Hill.

"We might as well not have come," joked grandmother, Judy Hill, nodding to her mother, Millie Beu.

When not in school, Nicholas teaches his Popeye the latest video games while his grandfather passes on his knowledge on how to repair just about everything.

The one problem Popeye couldn't fix was the leaky tear ducts when it came time for Nicholas to say goodbye.

But great-grandmother Beu came to the rescue by pulling Tic Tac mints from her purse and shaking some of the candies into Ben's hand, quickly restoring his smile.

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